FELIX

Sorry you didn't enjoy the night. Being that Unplugged is an open mic, we can make no guarantee of quality for any particular night, nor can we guarantee that each poet will be tailored to the taste of any particular audience member. I would personally love to know what the reviewer knows about poetry in order to make the statement that Poetry Unplugged is for people that know nothing about poetry. Throughout our fifteen years we have had all kinds of poets through the door, from Pete Doherty and Scroobius Pip to Eric Gregory Award winners and Forward Prize nominees. Poets that have ended up on Faber, Picador and many more major publishers have also passed through our open mic. But ultimately, Unplugged is a night that appeals to people watchers, where everyday folk you may not get to know in your own life come together to celebrate a love of poetry. The lines may not always scan, the rhymes may not always chime, but you'll see a little more of them than you might on a bus.

The whole point of an open mic session is to give everyone a chance to share their work - especially those who have never done so before or who are in the beginning stages of writing poetry. While living in London in 2007/2008, I attended Poetry Unplugged regularly and there were always poets ranging in skill, experience, nationality, style, genre, age and taste. Yes there were nights when there was bad poetry - that is to be expected at an open mic, but there was also always good poetry, and more importantly, a group of poets who were encouraging, welcoming and warm. It sounds as though you entirely missed the humour, magic and joy of Poetry Unplugged, it's a shame.

if supercilious was the tone you were looking for, eva, you've certainly managed it. perhaps you did not have a good night, but if you knew how many poets have cut their teeth at poetry unplugged and gone on to greater things you would not be so casually disparaging. as with any open mic some nights, and some performers, will be better than others but this event is the bedrock of the performance poetry scene.

I assume that your own poetry went down like a lead balloon, Eva (forgive the poetic metaphor/cliché) Why don't you try entering the slam at the end of Bang Said the Gun (The Roebuck, Dover Street, Borough)? You might fare better.

There is plenty of bad poetry at any open mic - it's open, after all. If you go to a headline event with published poets and their work is terrible, then you have every right to gripe. If you go to an open mic, then listen kindly, with the same respect you hope for when you read your own work.

Some bad poets improve after hearing others. Some don't, but still take pleasure in reading: and many of our finest poets began by standing up at an open mic like this. All deserve respect for the small act of courage it takes to share their work.

If you don't take pleasure in hearing them, don't go again. By all means enjoy a renewed confidence in your own work, but don't sneer. Don't expose other speakers in such specific terms that their identity can't possibly be mistaken, so that they can only feel foolish and self-conscious if they read your words. If your own poetry is award-winning, then good luck to you: it is no reason to mock the efforts of others.

I like Niall's bad farmyard jokes. And are all the 'overly emotional, unoriginal or simply crazy' poems ACTUALLY sonnets? I think you should read through your work and make sure you truly know what each word means before you hit 'send'.

It's true though that it is sometimes like the 21st century equivalent of going down to Bedlam and laughing at the inmates. But it's a lot more humane.

And the walls could do with being painted a warmer colour.

@rtjpoet

Anne Sexton says to watch out for the intellect. ‘because it knows so much it knows nothing and leaves you hanging upside down, mouthing knowledge as your heart falls out of your mouth.’ Poetry needs to shun the bourgeois sense of the intellect; to know, to speak, is not enough to create images. D. H. Lawrence says, ‘Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot.’ And then there are emotions, memories, fantasies, and that’s what happens at Poetry Unplugged, the rules of poetry go out the window, and that’s what creates oral poetry, not the intellect, which divides the world into the most basic dichotomy of good and bad, rather than Rimbaud’s disordering of the senses, where images are tasted.

Really? Every Poetry Unplugged I've been to, under Niall or his predecessors, has had a range of pieces from things I liked very much to those less so, all performed in a supportive atmosphere where shared enjoyment of the art form is a fundamental principle. Which is what you said, only focusing on what's good about it and without the bizarre belief that there's some natural law about how shabby a poetry venue should be. What there is is conversation and recommendations and development from one week to the next, with interesting regulars and welcomed newcomers, most of whom seem to have mastered the art of balancing a drink on a flat floor.

@Niall O'Sullivan: Thank you for the multitude of comments on this article. You may not have noticed it's over a year old.

Unfortunately, in classic poet form, you've not actually responded to any of the criticisms in the article (the venue was "uninspiring" and not really suited to poetry, the poetry wasn't just bad, it was "gibberish" etc etc.) and instead you've decided to just list some of the famous people that once went there (meaningless) and then spouted some marketing-publicity spam (also meaningless). If you have some genuine responses, please do comment again.

Also, whilst we appreciate your opinion, inciting hatred from your account on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/poetniall/status/112893393373380608) only reinforces your "sore loser" attitude (and if you think this review is "nasty", you have much to learn). It's one thing to post a link but to gather up your little "Twitter-mob" of poets and come over here and personally attack the reviewer herself is just a little childish.

@Simon. Yes I know it's nearly (not over, bless you) a year old. It shows up on Google, so I thought it was important to represent the other side. I drew attention to the article, but I'm not some kind of shadowy poetry puppet master, though I do try..

Calling an article mean spirited and nasty on Twitter doesn't equal inciting hatred.

Calling poetry gibberish isn't really a criticism, all it amounts to is an admission of incomprehension. As for the venue, I'm a poetry host, not an interior designer. That's something to be taken up with the manager of the Cafe (where the event was started by someone else fifteen years ago).

I'm not sure what "classic poet form" really means, it sounds like a bit of a strange generalisation.

Finally, I didn't just mention famous poets, but poets that have gone on to receive acclaim and recognition, so if your argument is that the poetry at Unplugged is bad, then you are, by extension, tarring a fair portion of the scene with the same brush.

Also, perhaps you could reply to the many points made by the people above, rather than brushing off as my attack troupe of mindless twitter monkeys. They have real experience of the night and can offer more insightful, and less puerile commentary than "The Poetry Café's Poetry Unplugged night is a nice idea, but ultimately a bit shit"

Open mic is a not our idea, I'm sure a few seconds on Google would have shed some light on that. Nor does it really supply the suitable high horse from which to call the above responses childish.

I notice my comment was deleted with little good reason. Simon - I hate to rise to the bait, but if you look at a bad review on any mainstream media website, there will be dozens of (often very vehement) comments underneath from people defending the event or artist. How they got there isn't terribly important, but it's a fact of life for any critic or journalist working in the media in the 21st Century. If you think these comments are hateful, you have much to learn yourself. Defensive, maybe - hateful, no.

I used to get hate mail as a student critic, then get the editor to run it on the letters page. I was just happy that anyone was actually reading.

@Niall O'Sullivan: While I can't confess to having any real interest in either side of this argument, it does amuse me that under your patronising tone seems to lie a rather strong vein of resentment!

This review is a year old and runs in a student paper that probably doesn't receive anything near the number of online hits that a major publication would receive. I can see that you are concerned about defending the quality of your night, but surely your energy is best spent elsewhere, corralling better publicity from other publications?

This is the nature of criticism - the reviewer went to one of your nights and found it a bit poor. Does that really deserve a call-to-arms on Twitter? At risk of stooping to your level of condescension: suck it up.

This article would have slowly faded it's way to obscurity but with the increased attention and link traffic you must have generated, it (and your sore responses to it) is probably going up Google's rankings. If this was your intention, well done sir!

@23Daves: If you believe that your comment was unfairly deleted, then this was most likely a mistake on our end. Please accept our sincerest apologies.

@Anonymous: Resentment? Not sure what motive I would have for that. Surely we don't need a master psychiatrist to work out that someone might want to respond when the night they work their arse off running is casually dismissed as "a bit shit"

As for bringing in the hits, well, I read this because it turned up on Google. Isn't replying to such things in the nature of websites having reply boxes? I have no problem with people coming to this site, as they get two sides to the story now. That's good for us and good for the site.

The "call to arms" took all of a few seconds and reaped quite a heatening result, people would have ignored it if they also thought the night was a bit shit, but they actually cared enough to defend it. Again, isn't this more positive and productive than "sucking it up"?

As a fairly regular contributor and member of the audience at Poetry Unplugged, I would like to endorse and add my comments to the above. Unplugged gives people from every walk of life the opportunity to express themselves publically in words, to develop confidence in doing so, and to enrich their concept of “what poetry is” by hearing the spoken word in a variety of genres.

I have seen readers progress from work that is purely self-therapeutic in tone and language, to writing more universal, more crafted and more experimental poems, as a result of their participation in open mics like Unplugged. Others whose work is at first stilted and unexpressive, blossom and flower into poets with something to say and a variety of means of saying it.

To criticise the host of this celebration of diversity and hope is unfair to say the least. The present incumbent is skilled in promoting an atmosphere in which all my “have their say” as long as no-one is hurt. His jokes are well-meant (and usually funny!) . His intro

(continued from previous comment) His introductions and thanks to each performer are always appropriate, no matter whether we have been treated to a stiff rendition of a poem inspired by Ovid, a set of Clerihews or a passionate rant – or something in between.

There are highs and lows, and occasional evenings are mainly lows. Most Tuesdays at the Poetry Cafe, however, are thoroughly enjoyable. People make new friends, meet old friends, swap news and books and information, and even on “bad” evenings there’s always an atmosphere of positive acceptance. Poetry Unplugged has just celebrated its fifteenth anniversary. Long may it continue.

@Matthew Colvin - thanks, and sorry if I was a bit snappy with my reply.

While I'm here, I may as well restate my original point, which is that reviewing an open mic night based on its content seems misguided - they don't come with any particular guarantees whatever their status, and none are really supposed to be a cracking night out for the casual punter in the West End, but rather support spaces for developing artists, which Unplugged does well.

In fairness, I will agree that the Poetry Cafe is a cramped space, but the National Poetry Society are a charity. I'm sure if they could afford a larger venue in Central London they'd snap it up. The decor does, however, need a bit of work.

And Anonymous - you're having a laugh, surely? It's hard for any poetry night to get publicity even in the student press, never mind humble open mics. I doubt The Guardian are going to be bashing Niall's door down to review the night, however many hours he puts in trying to persuade them to.

@BadPoet

'I assume that your own poetry went down like a lead balloon, Eva (forgive the poetic metaphor/cliché)'

That was actually a simile not a metaphor. If you say 'your poetry is a lead balloon' then it is a metaphor. Just saying.

I remember my visit to the Poetry Cafe; I was surprised that somewhere that should be the centre of poetry in London was so small. BUT this is due to the way poetry is generally conceived still - I get really annoyed at bookshops not stocking poetry and keeping it in the worst places... maybe people would buy it more if they could bloody find it! Anyway, I think what you have written is overly harsh, and there is no need to get so personal, commenting on the host, who is not only lovely, but (the handful of times I have been) really entertaining and encouraging. If you knew anything about poetry today, you would know that pets of all levels attend this event. Quite clearly, you don't know what you're talking about.

I have been going to poetry unplugged, on and off, for years. It is the best value night out in London, of course, some nights are more amusing than others, and you never really know what your going to get but that is the fun of it all.

I have made great friends from the event, enjoyed it far more often than not, and if it is a bit shabby sometimes, then that is all the better for it.

It is one of the very opportunities one has to enter the world of 'la boheme' for an evening, a true gem of an event in London.

The problem with 'open mic' nights is you never know what you will get, and hence, impossible to review, one night can be completely different from another.